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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 120 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: mine · snap · cabinet · wind · bark · leaves · object · degree

  1. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  2. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  3. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  4. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  5. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  6. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  7. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  8. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  9. What do you think of the new ________________?
  10. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  11. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  12. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  13. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  14. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  15. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  16. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  17. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  18. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  19. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  20. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  21. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  22. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  23. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  24. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. snap — to speak sharply
  2. degree — from a university
  3. degree — an amount
  4. wind — moving air
  5. wind — to turn a key
  6. degree — temperature
  7. object — a thing
  8. bark — a dog's sound
  9. cabinet — ministers
  10. leaves — of a tree
  11. object — an aim
  12. bark — of a tree
  13. leaves — to go away
  14. object — to protest
  15. snap — to snap out of it
  16. cabinet — ministers
  17. wind — moving air
  18. mine — an explosive
  19. mine — for digging
  20. leaves — lets stay
  21. mine — belonging to me
  22. bark — to shout
  23. snap — to click
  24. cabinet — a cupboard

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com